Door spacer



May 13, 1958 J. B. SULLIVAN DOOR SPACER Filed Sept. 17, 1954 W N l9 4 i 8 Flea - INVENTOR. J OHN B. S ULLIVAN ATTORNEY rates DOOR SPACER John B. Sullivan, Atlanta, Ga., assignor of one-half to George Moses, Atlanta, Ga.

This invention relates to a door spacer and more particularly to apparatus whereby a conventional house door may be spaced open, and locked in that position.

In hotels, apartments and the like, it is often desirable to provide a means whereby the door may be spaced open sufficiently so that cross ventilation may be provided from a window across the room and out of the door. In the past, louvered spacers have been provided which extend substantially the height of the door to fit between the pivoted edge of the door and the adjacent frame, thereby spacing the door open for ventilation purposes. Other types of door spacers have included complicated and expensive apparatus which have not proved too satisfactory mainly because of the cost and because the door spacers have not been interchangeable from lefthand doors to right-hand doors, thus necessitating the manufacture of mirror copies for oppositely swinging doors.

Now I have devised a door spacer which comprises I few moving parts, requires only a few screws and necessitates only a short period of time to install. This door spacer includes a pivoted spacer member which normally hangs pendently from a supporting bracket aflixed to the wall adjacent a door, and a lock member afiixed to the door for engagement with the spacer member when the spacer member is in substantially a horizontal position. This lock member includes a slideable engaging tongue having a key hole slot arrangement, a portion of which is of sufficient size that the head of the spacer member may pass therethrough, and another portion of which is of just sufiicient size to grasp the head of the spacer member when the engaging tongue is slid to its locked position. Also included with the lock member is a locking arm which carries a pin to slide into a slot when the engaging tongue is in the locked position. By removing a threaded sliding knob, the engaging tongue may be removed and turned so that the door spacer is adapted for doors swinging the other direction.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a door spacer which is adapted to secure a door in a partially open position.

Another object of my invention is to provide a door spacer which will fit equally well on a right-hand or a left-hand opening door.

Another object of my invention is to provide a door spacer which will not interfere with the normal operation of the door when the door spacer is not in use.

Another object of my invention is to provide a door spacer which is inexpensive to manufacture, easily and quickly installed, and eflicient in operation.

Other and further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a door spacer constructed .& in accordance with my invention, said door spacer being shown installed on a portion of a conventional door in the spaced locked position.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the door spacer illustrated in Fig. 1, the door being in its closed position.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the door spacer illustrated in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a detail showing the locking bar of my door spacer.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, numeral 10 denotes a conventional hinged door which is mounted in the usual way as a closure member for the doorway of wall 11. Door 10 is provided with the customary door knob 12 and latch 13.

According to my invention, my door spacer is mounted with the locking member aflixed to door 10, and the spacer member aflixed to wall 11. Of course, if the doorway has sufliciently wide framing or other structure surrounding it, the spacer member may be mounted on the latter structure.

In the present embodiment, the spacer member includes a bracket which is stamped from sheet metal or formed of plastic, or the like, initially in a shape closely approximating a cross so that the two arms 14, 14' may be bent to a position parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the remaining flat base 15. The base 15 is pierced to receive conventional wood screws 16, 16 which pass through the same and into wall 11 to se curely position the bracket adjacent the vertical edge 17 of wall 11.

Connected to the bracket is the spacer which, in the present embodiment, is a standard 18 pivotally mounted by one end between arms 14, 14'. To retain standard 18 in place, a pivot pin 19 passes between arms 14, 14 and journals one end of standard 18. It is thus seen that standard 18 may pivot from a horizontal position as shown in Fig. 1 to a pendent vertical position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The other end of standard 18 is provided with a disc-shaped flange 241 having a spherical head 21 extending therefrom. Head 21 is connected to disc 20 by a small waist 22, the purpose of which will be described in more detail hereinafter.

For cooperation with the spacer member, the locking member is affixed to door 10 on substantially the same horizontal plane. This locking member includes a casing stamped from sheet metal material. The casing comprises a flat substantially rectangular central plate 23, the upper and lower edges of which are provided with inwardly projecting shoulder members 24 and 25 which connect respectively with upper and lower base flanges 26 and 27. From an examination of Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that flanges 26 and 27 are parallel, horizontally disposed flanges which are aflixed to door 10 by screws 28. The shoulder members 24 and 25 space the central plate 23 in a plane parallel to door 10 to provide a longitudinal channel defined by door 10, flanges 24 and 25 and the central plate 23. It is also seen that one end of the casing is adjacent theedge 40 of door 10.

Slideably arranged within this channel is the locking tongue 29 which, as shown in Fig. 4, is a flat rectangular member having straigtht parallel sides and rounded ends. Tongue 29 is slightly smaller in width than the space between flanges 24 and 25, and hence is easily slideable within the channel as described above. Further, tongue 29 is longer than the casing; so that, normally, the ends of tongue 29 will project past the ends of the casing.

As seen in Fig. 4, a central slot 3i) runs substantially the entire length of tongue 29. This slot 30 is substantially parallel to the edges of tongue 29 and is provided with a cloverleaf or keyhole opening 31 which tapers to a smaller opening 32. Opening 31 is of larger mean diameter than spherical head 21, while opening 32 is of larger diameter than waist 22, but of smaller diameter than spherical head 21. Hence, spherical head 21 may pass through opening 31 but will be locked in positon by opening 32 encompassing waist 22.

At the other end of tongue 29 is an internally threaded circular hole 33 which is adapted to receive the threaded end of tongue sliding kob 34. Since knob 34 is threaded, it may be affixed to the tongue 29 from either side for purposes to be described later. Also provided in tongue 29 is a locking slot 35 which extends arcuately inwardly from one edge of tongue 29.

When tongue 29 is installed in the channel formed by central plate 23, a locking arm 36 is pivotally attached to central plate 23 by a screw 37 which passes through one end of locking arm 36, through central plate 23, through slot 36 and into door 10. The other end of locking arm 36 projects beyond arcuate end 38 of the casing to normally overlap tongue 29. At a point beyond the edge 38, a slot engaging finger 39, having a spherical head, projects through locking arm 36 to a position close- 1y adjacent the surface of door 10. When tongue 29 is in a locked position, finger 39 of arm 36 is adapted to slide into locking slot 35.

From the foregoing description, the operation of my door spacer is apparent. When my door spacer is not in use, the locking member is so affixed to door 10 that the lower edge of tongue 29 passes above arms 14, 14, as shown in Fig. 3, and thus does not interfere with the normal operation of the door 10. When it is desired to space door 10 open and lock it in that position, the door is opened and tongue 29 can be moved to the right, in Figs. 1 and 3, it being remembered that if finger 39 is engaged in slot 35, the locking arm must first be pivoted up to disengage the same. With tongue 29 to the right, opening 31 is projected beyond edge 40 of the door 10 and beyond the edge of the casing, although when tongue 29 is in the locked position, only opening 32 is exposed.

Standard 18 normally hangs pendently in a vertical position when my door spacer is in the unlocked position; however, standard 18 is raised to substantially a horizontal position so that head 21 is aligned with opening 31. By closing door 10 slightly while holding standard 18 in a position to align head 21 and opening 31, head 21 is projected through opening 31 so that tongue 29 encompasses waist 22. Then tongue 29 is slid to the left to engage the waist 22 in the smaller opening 32, and locking arm 36 is rotated downwardly so that finger 39 engages slot 35. Thus tongue 29 is locked in position, the tongue being of such length that, in the locked position, only opening 32 is exposed beyond the end of the casing and edge 49 of the door. Since opening 32 is of less diameter than head 21, the tongue tightly encompasses waist 22 and door 10 is thus spaced open.

Of course, to unlock my door spacer, locking arm 36 need only be lifted, freeing finger 39 from slot 35 and freeing tongue 29 for sliding movement. The tongue is then slid to the right, using knob 34, and head 21 is withdrawn through opening 31.

It will readily be seen that the apparatus I have described is adaptable to both left-hand or right-hand doors. To adapt my door spacer for a door swinging in the opposite direction from the door illustrated, tongue 29 is removed and knob 34 unscrewed therefrom and installed on the other side of tongue 29. Locking arm 36 is adaptnected one to said door member adjacent the edge thereof and the other to said wall member adjacent an edge thereof, said spacer member, including a terminal disc-shaped flange having a spherical head joined thereto by a small waist, said locking member including a casing, a tongue slidable in said casing and defining an opening for receiving said spherical head therethrough and a communicating smaller opening to receive said waist and means for locking said tongue against movement with respect to said casing.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for locking said tongue includes a locking arm pivotally mounted on said casing, a finger projecting from said arm to engage a slot in said tongue when said tongue is in said position confining said waist.

3. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said tongue is provided with an arcuate slot and a second slot longitudinally of the tongue, an arm pivotally mounted on said casing, a pin passing through said arm and said casing and projecting through said second slot, and a finger on said arm adapted to engage said arcuate slot to fix the position of said tongue with respect to said casing.

4. A door spacer for locking a door in a partially open position with respect to a wall comprising a base affixed to said wall adjacent said door, a pair of arms projecting from said base, a pivot pin carried by said arms, a standard connected by one end to said pin for pivoting with respect to said base, a disc-shaped flange at the other end of said standard, a spherical head, at waist smaller in diameter than said spherical head and flange, and joining said spherical head and said flange, a casing mounted on said door in substantially the same plane with said base, said casing being provided with a longitudinally disposed channel, a tongue slideably positioned in said channel, said tongue normally protruding beyond the ends of said casing, said tongue being provided with an opening of larger size than said spherical head so that said spherical head may pass therethrough, said tongue being provided with an opening communicating with said first mentioned opening, said latter opening being of larger diameter than said waist and of smaller diameter than said spherical head, and means for locking said tongue with said waist engaged by said latter opening.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

